Banning School Dean — Who Is Also A Priest On Inactive Leave — Denies Trying To Lure Minor For Sex

BANNING (CBSLA) — A Banning school administrator has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to lure a minor to have sex, authorities said.

Charles Patrick Mayer, 55, a Menifee resident, is on “inactive leave” from the priesthood, according to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The church said Mayer is “not in ministry and living privately, since September of 2000 due to a failure to adhere to Archdiocesan policies concerning interaction with youth and young adults. The Archdiocese has no record of allegations of sexual misconduct by Charles Mayer,” the archdiocese said in a statement Thursday.

The statement was part of a bulletin to parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Northridge — Mayer’s first assignment after his 1996 ordination. He worked at that church until 2000 when his inactive leave began.

Anyone who may have pertinent information about Mayer is asked to call Detective Donald Patton of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department at (909) 774-2852.

Following his arrest, the Banning School District says Mayer was immediately placed on unpaid administrative leave from his job as dean of students at Nicolet Middle School.

Mayer was barred from any district facility or school campus

He remains in custody on a no-bail hold at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s said Mayer allegedly E-mailed nude photos of himself to someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy. The E=mail account was run by undercover police.

Mayer’s past employers included Lutheran schools, Banning School District Superintendent Robert Guillen said.